Dawkins has no time for religion and faith. I am the same, particularly when it is taught to children in schools.
My missus’s nephew is doing his GCSE’s at the moment and we were round there the other day and her and her sister were chatting on about something or other, basically just making sounds and drinking tea while I was talking to Jack (her nephew) about the homework he was doing. He’d been flicking through this book, shaking his head, as we got there so I asked him what it was etc. and he closed it and faced the cover of it to me without saying a word, just raised his eyebrows and smirked.
Catholic Christianity “ah, I see. Giz a look then”. I must point out here that luckily Jack is a bright lad and into his maths and sciences and will be going to college and eventually university studying engineering and does not possess a single religious bone in his body. I’ve not received this from the horse’s mouth but I reckon his mum placed him in this school because it was the nearest, or his mates were going there or some daft shite along those lines. But I know, or I am fairly certain it wasn’t a decision based on a desire to be taught in a catholic school because even though, if asked, she would declare herself a catholic, she isn’t in any way active about it (though deep down she does harbour some absurd beliefs instilled in her from childhood).
So I had a butchers at this book and as I was doing so Jack explained that this was one of his GCSE’s and even though he’s well on course to fly his engineering diploma along with his other GCSE’s, his mum wanted him to “just as good” in his religious studies but he said “it’s just a waste of time, have a look at the stuff it says in there, how’s that even been allowed to be printed?” and sure enough I could see what he meant:
(Incidentally, I sneakily asked him if I could borrow this book to which he happily replied “you havin a laff? Yer can keep it!” I won’t keep it, I just wanted to scan through it and post bits of it here.)
Topic 3.1.1
The main features of a Catholic upbringing and how it may lead to belief in God
Main points
The main features of a catholic upbringing
Catholic parent are likely to:
• Have their babies baptised and promise to bring up their children in God and be good Catholics
• Teach their children to believe in God
• Teach their children to pray to God
• Take their children to Mass where they learn to worship God
• Send their children to a Catholic school
How a Catholic upbringing may lead to, or support, belief in God
It is natural for children who have had a Catholic upbringing to believe in God because:
• Their Catholic parent will have told them about God and they will believe their parents
• Catholics pray to God, so they will believe that God exists because their parents would not waste their time praying to nothing
• Seeing so many people worshiping God when they go to Mass ill make them believe that God exists
• They will be taught that God exists when they go to school, and will believe it because their teachers tell them it is true
Though a mixture of head shaking and laughter you turn over the page and it gets better, or worse, actually.
Topic 3.1.3
The argument from design and belief in God
Main points
Design means making a plan to produce something. For example, a car is made to the plan of the designer, and looking at any part of the car makes you think that the car has been designed.
Many religious have looked at the world and seen that the way the universe works makes it look as if it has been designed. Some scientists also see evidence of design in the process of evolution where complex life-forms develop from simple ones.
From this they have developed the argument from design:
• Anything that has been designed needs a designer.
• There is plenty of evidence that the world has been designed (laws of science such as gravity and magnetism; DNA being a blueprint for life etc.)
• If the world has been designed, the world must have a designer.
• The only possible designer of something as wonderful as the universe would be God
• Therefore the appearance of design in the world proves that god exists.
This argument supports belief in God and may lead to those who are not sure to believe there is a God.
And on it goes from giving four responses to understanding evil and suffering - God has his reasons for allowing evil and suffering but humans cannot understand those reasons or God gave humans free will so it’s a problem caused by humans, not God or evil and suffering are not a problem because life is a preparation for paradise and even God has a reason for not using his power to remove evil and suffering but humans cannot understand it. God is divine and there is no way humans can understand his thoughts - to listing AIDS as one of the main causes of poverty (while neglecting to mention the churches opposition to the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS) or explaining how the bible says that homosexuality is a sin.
It is riddled with blatant omissions and flat out lies, designed to reinforce falsehoods by wrapping them up in pseudo-objectivity yet still managing glowing endorsments for good catholics everywhere (many become doctors and nurses in order to help the poor you know). This is what is being taught in schools. How can this be acceptable to any right thinking person, really, how? How is the system so fucked up to allow this to go on as if it were perfectly normal or reasonable? It is not religious studies but indoctrination and it is reinforcing lies and twisted ideas that have often been placed in the childs head by the parents and it is a disgrace. I only hope more kids are like Jack and see it for what it really is.